Soccer + #GivingTuesday: Our 18 Picks

With the goal of celebrating and encouraging charitable activities at the start of the holiday season, #GivingTuesday is an invaluable opportunity for participants and fans of soccer to #GiveanAssist to causes that use the beautiful game to bring social change.
Getting in the game for #GivingTuesday can be as quick as donating a few dollars, sharing an organization’s link or logo with your social network, clicking an Amazon Smile purchase link, volunteering your time/talents on your terms and/or supporting a social enterprise/fair trade brand. The ways you can #GiveanAssist today and the rest of the upcoming year are only limited by your creativity.

Whether you want to team up with a cause in your community or on the other side of the world, our 2013 picks are using soccer to tackle challenges with unique, local and global approaches.

A documentary by award winning director/producer Danny Turken, The Beautiful Game is a story about the impact of soccer on women in South Africa-- who use their love for the sport to challenge gender discrimination, gender-based violence and deep-seated cultural stereotyping-- and demonstrate soccer’s ability to transcend all boundaries and reshape the perception of women throughout the world. Currently in the final days of its Kickstarter post-production campaign, the team is offering a number of unique #GivingTuesday rewards for those who pledge their support before midnight today. Check their funding page at the link above for details.

One World Futbol produces, sells and shares almost indestructible, nondeflatable balls that harness power of play to heal and bring about social change in some of the harshest environments around the globe. Their buy one, give one initiative brings soccer to organizations and individuals that need it most.

Uncharted Play combines sports, science and social innovation to bring its energy-harnessing soccer ball to the children in the developing world. Fifteen minutes of play with the soccer ball provides 3 hours of LED light. With a get one, give one initiative, you have a cool ball to charge your phone and a child abroad has a new light source.

Founded by national sports personality Rashan Ali, Sporty Girls, Inc. provides programming that encourages minority, metro Atlanta girls (age 8 – 18) to participate and achieve success in non-traditional sports, such as soccer, tennis, swimming and golf. Every year, 40 girls are selected to get a taste of collegiate athlete life by participating in a rigorous, overnight camp at local campus.

The U.S. Soccer Foundation is on a mission to enhance, assist and grow the sport of soccer in the United States, with a special emphasis on underserved communities. Through their Soccer for Success, Passback and Safe Places to Play programs, the foundation is making sure unexposed youth are equipped with all of the tools to play the game.

Soccer in the Streets empowers underserved youth through soccer, mentoring, character building and employability programs. In 2013, Soccer in the Streets weekly programming serves 1,300 kids at 16 different metro Atlanta locations and employs 70 participants or graduates as coaches, referees, event staff, or administrators.

With a mantra that “Ending homelessness is a team sport,” Street Soccer USA uses the power of soccer to help homeless men and women dramatically transform their lives. Through their mobile donation initiative, you can support an athlete for ($5) by texting “GOAL” to 80100.

Urban Initiatives’ mission is to empower underserved children to adopt healthy lifestyles, improve their academic performance, and build strong character through sports-based youth development programs.

As the outreach arm of MLS Club DC United, United for D.C. champions educational, health, and recreational programs and events that serve disadvantaged youth of greater Washington, DC by engaging the resources and skills of D.C. United and its community of supporters.

Vega Football is a competitive youth soccer club with a social mission: a free-to-play model that allows kids from underserved communities to access the life-changing, developmental benefits of playing organized soccer.

Have a Happy #GivingTuesday2013!

*Participating in the Amazon Smile program: If you purchase items through the organization’s Amazon Smile link, 0.5% of your purchase will be donated to the organization.